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BC band shell Highland Rotarians’ inspiration for Island Lake shell

August 3, 2017   ·   0 Comments

By Constance Scrafield

Said Jeff Bathurst, Treasurer of the Rotary Club of Orangeville Highlands, “When I was in B.C., I saw the band shell that the Rotary Club of Chemainus built and I thought we need something like this but I wondered where it could be.”

Upon his return home to Orangeville, “Fortuitously, I read about Theatre Orangeville’s plans to build a band shell on Island Lake. So, I got in touch with David Nairn and said ‘We’d like to be part of that.’.”

Mr. Bathurst told us, “I remember saying to David when we were looking at the site, ‘I think we could come up with $50,000.’ He looked at me wide-eyed and said, ‘50? Not 15?’ and I told him, ‘Yes.’”

In the end, it cost a lot more, with $80,000 of the total coming from the Orangeville Highlands club.

There are two Rotary Clubs in Orangeville. The first was the Rotary Club of Orangeville, established 80 years ago in 1937. This club raises most of its funds through the well-known summertime Ribfest.

The much newer Rotary Club of Orangeville Highlands raises funds with their fabulous annual Taste of Autumn: a five-course gourmet dinner with wine, live and silent auctions, dancing – all the fun.

This year’s Taste of Autumn is set for October 21 at the Hockley Valley Resort. Individual tickets are $185, and sign-ups for groups can be made online at http://groupspaces.com/RCOH/

The world’s first Rotary Club was established in February, 1905, in Chicago by a businessman, Paul Harris, who felt it was important to serve the community, so it seems, as a way of life.

By 1910, Rotary had become international with the first club outside the USA being formed in Winnipeg. There are now some 1.2 million members in 34,282 clubs located in more than 200 countries and territories.

The Rotary Club of Orangeville Highlands is currently celebrating its 25th year. There are still a few of the originating members in the group. It was through their fund-raising that they produced an initial $40,000 for the amphitheatre’s construction.

“We have a annual visionary session to decide the focus of our Club’s long- and short-term involvement,” Mr. Bathurst explained. “Right now, we have 18 members and we are happy to welcome others to join us.”

Part of that vision is joining in the mantra of the Rotary Clubs  internationally to eradicate polio world-wide. “That can’t be considered accomplished until there are two straight years around the world. We’re still working on it with the Gates Foundation.”

Mr. Bathurst’s own involvement with the  Highlands club is about eight years. His daughter Jennifer went on a Rotary exchange to Ecuador for 10 months.

Continuing with the story of Highlands’ involvement with the amphitheatre, Mr. Bathurst related, “It was possible to use the same technology for the amphitheatre with the pylons used to support the bridge they had built. These also worked for the platform [of the amphitheatre]. Then, the platform sat for a couple of years.”

About the material used to build the treated wooden platform: “I can’t say enough about Home Hardware’s [contribution to the project],” he remarked. “And there was government support for $120,000, including funds from the CVC (Credit Valley Conservation).”

By the time the design and decisions had been made  about the construction of the “shell,” a beautiful arc, built with Canadian-made products, the Rotary Club of Orangeville Highlands had raised another $40,000 for the project – a huge portion of the overall cost to finish the structure.

“It’s been a pleasure working on this,” Mr. Bathurst was happy to comment.

Meanwhile, what keeps Mr. Bathurst interested in his connection with the Rotary are projects like this: supporting the local community and its arts community. “I enjoy the fellowship,” he said.

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